I saw this Monday night and have to say wow. Michael Moore does it again with an interesting story, interesting connections and some very nice humor mixed in. It was yet another sold out show (the four theaters in the Chicago area have all been sold out for each screening) and received round of applause at the end.

There are a lot of heart-breaking moments in it but the one for me is when a woman whose son had been killed in Iraq goes to D.C. to visit the White House and some clueless woman comes up and starts screaming in her face that this is all staged. The horror on the mothers face is traumatic.

For the people who claim that Michael Moore is a manipulative person, who skews the facts to further his own agenda and make a specific point, I raise the question: what have Bush and Cheney been doing for the last four years? And the only reason I use them as an example is because this movie is about them.

I urge everyone to see it. You may not agree with his views but you may start to understand why so many people are angry with the U.S. government.

In taking a test to see what I knew of Peter Parker and his alter ego, Spidey,
a very interesting answer was returned. I was asked the following


15. Who is Pavitr Prabhakar? -I guessed it was Peter Parker but I didn't expect this response

Correct
In June of this year, Marvel announced that they’d be launching a reinvented Spider-Man character who would fight crime in the Indian city of Mumbai instead of New York. His chief nemesis will be a new version of Green Goblin changed into a mythic demon known as a rakshasa.

So ........ is Jack somehow in Spidey's universe or is Spidey somehow in Jack's domain?

for those who wanted more story, more psychological underpinnings and a better villian, your prayers have been answered

for those who subscribe to critic's prose, have no worry, the majority seem to like it immensely

for those who wanted more of a love story with conflicted lovers, Spidey feels that bill as well

for those who decried the lack of what was deemed poor action sequences,
this Spider-man is better in that category too

and this holiday weekend, Spidey's web should make a certain orge envious
but for myself, I found it just okay

I saw this a week ago and I have to give it to him: Ben Kingsley is the man. This was a great film (Jennifer Connelly semi-nude at almost every turn didn't hurt, either) about a woman who is mistakenly evicted from her home and then an Iranian family buys it at auction. It plays on the misconceptions between foreign and American cultures about each other without becoming preachy. Ben Kingsley is supporting a lifestyle he can't afford with (at least) two jobs before he jumps at the opportunity to buy a house he finds in the newspaper. Jennifer Connelly is depressed because her husband left her and for 8 months doesn't answer her mail (including several notices for eviction). She sees a lawyer about getting her house back and hilarity ensues. Ben Kingsley seems to be on emotional cruise control until a pivotal scene near the end that will leave you convinced (for the few seconds 'it' is going on) that he is really experiencing what's going on on screen.

Does anyone have a .doc or a link for the Nightworld Chronicles thingie that some of you chappies wrote a few years ago? I'd love to get a copy

cheers
Steve

I saw an early version of this years ago. It's hilarious.

Some dialogue, courtesy of IMDB:

Kro-Bar: Aliens? Us? Is this one of your Earth jokes?

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Dr. Paul Armstrong: Betty, you know what this meteor could mean to science. It could mean actual advances in the field of science.

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Skeleton: I sleep now.

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Skeleton: I HAVE RISEN!

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Ranger Brad: We take our horrible mutilations seriously around these parts.

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Kro-Bar: Sorry, sometimes my wife forgets that she is not an alien from outer space.

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Dr. Roger Fleming: Ranger Brad, I'm a scientist, I don't believe in anything.

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Ranger Brad: I've seen a bear do things, well... even things that even a bear wouldn't do.

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Just finished editing THE TOMB / RAKOSHI for the Borderlands edition. Here’s an example of how I’ve cleaned up the prose. Some of the changes are simply fixing scan errors, but most are the removal of redundancies and passive voice.


BEFORE:

Made it!

A wonderful feeling-he and Vicky were alive and off the freighter. And only moments ago he had been ready to give up hope. But they weren't safe yet. They had to be far from the ship, preferably on shore, when those bombs went off.

The oars were still in their locks. lack grabbed them and began to row, watching the freighter recede into the dark. Manhattan was behind him, drawing nearer with every stroke. Gia and Abe would not be visible for a while yet. Vicky crouched in the stem of the raft, her head swiveling between the freighter and land. It was going to be so good to reunite her with Gia.

Jack rowed harder. The effort caused him pain, but sur-prisingly little. He should have been in agony from the deep wound behind his left shoulder, from the innumerable lac-erations all over his body, and from the avulsions where the skin had simply been tom away by the teeth of the savage little rakoshi. He felt weak from fatigue and blood loss, but he should have lost more—he should have been in near shock from the blood he had lost. The necklace truly seemed to have healing powers.

But could it really keep you young? And let you grow old if it were removed? That could be why Kolabati had refused to lend it to him when they were trapped in the pilot's cabin earlier tonight. Was it possible that Kolabati was slowly turning into an old hag back in his apartment right now? He remembered how Ron Daniels, the mugger, had sworn he hadn't rolled an old lady the night before. Perhaps that explained much of Kolabati's passion for him: It wasn't her grandmother's necklace he had returned-it was her own.

They were halfway to shore. He took a hand off an oar to reach up and touch the necklace. It might not be a bad thing to keep around. You never knew when you might-—

Hi there. Just some help needed here. Has anyone either got the link , or a copy of the original posting about the NYT book review 2/20/94 "Universal Prose Care: A modest proposal (satire) that FPW posted earlier this year ? I can't find the link on the old MB or the details I thought I saved about it on my PC. HELP would really be appreciated guys and gals. All the best and thanks in advance , kevin

Tony, if you read this, SAY SOMETHING! We're worried about ye, lad.

Lisa

I watched Bad Santa last night (starring Billy Bob Thornton) and thought it was awful. It wasn't funny at all, had much more vulgarity than necessary, and really had no point. The previews made it look mildly amusing, but the movies itself was so bad I found myself wishing I had the time back so I could have cleaned my bathroom. :mad: